When the heart is incapable of pumping blood at full capacity and does not cope with the necessary blood flow, important for the proper functioning of the body, the patient is said to suffer from heart failure. When the organs begin to lack oxygen and nutrients due to the incapacity of the heart to perform in an appropriate manner, there are certain symptoms of heart failure which become evident.
Correct Diagnosis in case of Heart Failure
When there seem to be signs and symptoms of heart failure, it is mandatory to visit your physician in order to undergo a thorough investigation. The specialist is going to look for abnormal heart rhythms, congestion of the lungs and, last but not least, he will try to find possible risk factors such as increased blood pressure.
Heart Failure Symptoms
Heart failure symptoms are often absent, however they may come up to the surface after physical effort, when the sufferer may feel tired and have reeling sensation. Due to the fact that the heart works hard to pump the necessary amount of blood throughout the body, but also because blood pressure decreases, the body is striving to make up for this deficiency by generating nerve and hormone signals to bring the volume of blood to a normal level through water retention.
Changes may occur in the rhythm of the heartbeats as the muscles of the heart tend to thicken while the ventricles expand in order to accumulate more blood. Despite all this, the heart is however incapable of pumping all that blood back through the body, which starts accumulating fluid which is soon to be in excess, therefore invading the lungs as well as other tissues.
Heart failure symptoms tend to be more obvious due to the fact that the heart keeps on making efforts. In the same manner, water retention aggravates because the organs no longer receive enough blood. Some of the most common symptoms of heart failure are:
- Shortness of breath
- Edema, which manifests itself through swellings of the abdomen, ankles and legs
- Wheezy breathing caused by water accumulated in lungs
- Unexpected weight gain, also caused by water accumulating in the body
- Continuous cough, accompanied by white, foamy phlegm, sometimes tinged with blood
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Slight confusion
- Fast or irregular heartbeats
- Lack of concentration
The specialist will recommend minute evaluation, including chest x-rays, an echocardiogram, but also blood tests in case of heart failure suspicion.
Heart Failure Generating Factors
Heart failure is an acute or chronic progressive disorder, which can manifest itself in a gradual manner, becoming more and more serious, or, on the contrary, it may appear all of a sudden, without any prior notice. Habitually, heart failure is induced by an already existing heart problem like:
- Increased blood pressure persisting for a long time
- Consequences of surgery or heart attacks
- Defective heart valves
- Arrhythmias
- Congenital heart flaws
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart infections
- Cardiomyopathy
Other Heart Failure Factors
Heart failure could also be generated by other factors which should be avoided:
